Sean Walmsley, Emeritus Professor

A native of Great Britain, Sean Walmsley was sent away to one of those notorious "public" schools (Bradfield College, now thoroughly modernized) at the tender age of 13, graduated from Trinity College Dublin with his BA and MA in History, and from Harvard University with his Ed.D in Reading. He had several years teaching experience in elementary and secondary schools in both England and the U.S. He was a finalist in the 1976 IRA Outstanding Dissertation Awards competition.

After joining the faculty of the Reading Department in 1975, he assumed a major role in broadening the department's mission to encompass all the language arts, and made the integration of language arts a primary teaching and research focus. His publications include articles in Reading Research Quarterly, Curriculum Inquiry, Language Arts, Elementary School Journal, and The Reading Teacher. He co-authored Teaching Kindergarten: A Developmentally-Appropriate Approach (Heinemann, 1992), authored Children Exploring Their World: Theme Teaching in Elementary School (Heinemann, 1994), co-edited No Quick Fix: Rethinking Literacy Programs in America's Elementary Schools (TC Press/IRA, 1995/2007), co-authored Kindergarten: Ready or Not? (Heinemann, 1996) and Teaching with Favorite Marc Brown Books (Scholastic, 1998). His latest book, Closing the Circle was published, with Jossey-Bass, in 2008). It's about reforming language arts, K-12, based on two decades working with school districts primarily in New York State, helping them to rethink their K-12 approach to language arts. Dr. Walmsley is currently working on a new book, Getting the Big Idea, about teaching big ideas to children in the primary grades.

Dr. Walmsley was Chair of the Reading Department from 2001-2009, and retired September 1, 2011.

Dr. Walmsley serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.

Sean Walmsley

Emeritus Professor

A native of Great Britain, Sean Walmsley was sent away to one of those notorious "public" schools (Bradfield College, now thoroughly modernized) at the tender age of 13, graduated from Trinity College Dublin with his BA and MA in History, and from Harvard University with his Ed.D in Reading. He had several years teaching experience in elementary and secondary schools in both England and the U.S. He was a finalist in the 1976 IRA Outstanding Dissertation Awards competition.

After joining the faculty of the Reading Department in 1975, he assumed a major role in broadening the department's mission to encompass all the language arts, and made the integration of language arts a primary teaching and research focus. His publications include articles in Reading Research Quarterly, Curriculum Inquiry, Language Arts, Elementary School Journal, and The Reading Teacher. He co-authored Teaching Kindergarten: A Developmentally-Appropriate Approach (Heinemann, 1992), authored Children Exploring Their World: Theme Teaching in Elementary School (Heinemann, 1994), co-edited No Quick Fix: Rethinking Literacy Programs in America's Elementary Schools (TC Press/IRA, 1995/2007), co-authored Kindergarten: Ready or Not? (Heinemann, 1996) and Teaching with Favorite Marc Brown Books (Scholastic, 1998). His latest book, Closing the Circle was published, with Jossey-Bass, in 2008). It's about reforming language arts, K-12, based on two decades working with school districts primarily in New York State, helping them to rethink their K-12 approach to language arts. Dr. Walmsley is currently working on a new book, Getting the Big Idea, about teaching big ideas to children in the primary grades.

Dr. Walmsley was Chair of the Reading Department from 2001-2009, and retired September 1, 2011.

Dr. Walmsley serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.